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That’s the question: Where is India lagging behind?

Everybody knows where India is lagging behind. Unemployment, rising economic inequality, social disharmony, absence of a progressive agenda and lack of political will put the enormous human capacities to optimum use.

But the same question, asked in a different context, advertises the real problem today’s India is grappling with. For instance, let’s examine what the top Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ram Madhav said a few days ago during his tour of the United States.

Participating in a function with some Americans, Ram Madhav said: “We agreed to stop buying oil from Iran, we agreed buying oil from Russia, facing so much criticism from our Indian opposition. We agreed for 50% tariffs; agreed means we did not say anything. We maintained our patience. Today, in the new trade deal also, we agreed to 18% tariff, higher than what it used to be. So, where is India lagging behind? What are those issues where India is not doing enough?”

That’s the most tangible confession by an RSS ideologue and spokesperson, who has held the important post of BJP general secretary in the past, about the Narendra Modi government’s surrender before the Donald Trump administration. Though Modi’s inability to counter Trump’s repeated taunts and insults left little doubt about his timidity, the feeble voices coming from government spokespersons about decisions not taken under extraneous pressures gave excuses to the BJP.

Oil import from Iran was stopped and the purchases were whittled down substantially from Russia but the whispers of denial that decisions were not taken under US pressure didn’t die away completely. Madhav’s public admission ripped the mask off, no matter he later said what was said was wrong.

Sycophancy is uglier when it looks like a hideous surrender. The whole structure of confusion and misery betrays a dormant sense of guilt.........

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